No tsunami was generated as a result of the quake, which struck along the borders with Thailand and Laos, about 70 miles from Chiang Rai. The northern Thai city suffered a little damage, according to Thai television.

The 6.8-magnitude quake was just six miles deep, according to the US Geological Survey.

At that strength and depth, the monitor said 600,000 people got shaking anywhere from strong to violent. The buildings are considered vulnerable so moderate to very heavy damage is expected in homes.

Buildings swayed in Bangkok, about 480 miles south of the epicentre.

Max Jones, an Australian resident of the Thai capital, was in his 27th-floor apartment when his building started swaying so hard he had to grab the walls to keep from falling. "It was bloody scary, I can tell you," he said. Mr Jones said he could see smoke rising from nearby buildings and people running in the streets.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said it was located too far inland to create a destructive wave.

A woman in an area north of Chiang Rai died when a brick wall collapsed on her, according to police.

"It was like somebody was running on the roof. Everybody was in a panic. They came out of their houses and wondered what happened," said Major General Mongkol Sampawapon, a police chief from another district near Chiang Rai.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the Burma side, a remote area where communications, even in the best of times, are difficult. The country's military controlled government also tightly controls information.